


Little Wonders

by Kieran (SunGryphon), Queen_of_Derp



Category: Titanfall
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eventual Smut, F/M, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Rating will change over time, Robot/Human Relationships, Romance, Warnings will change over time, Wartime Violence, tags will change over time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-06 12:55:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8752408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunGryphon/pseuds/Kieran, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_Derp/pseuds/Queen_of_Derp
Summary: Jack Cooper, recognized as a galactic hero, has returned to Harmony and been reunited with BT-7274. Pilot Sola Kione notices that despite this, he eats alone, and extends a flag of friendship with a simple cereal bar. She isn’t the only one to notice his arrival, but Rifleman Nathaniel Ryan isn’t quite as outgoing. Maybe just a little push can get Ryan to step outside his comfort zone enough to say hello…‘Little Wonders’ is a roleplay-adaptation and second-look at the AU of ‘Take my Hand’ coupled with the Protocol <3 AU of the ‘100% in Love/Admiration, Attraction, Devotion and Respect” series, where we dive deeper into the what ifs and what they can bring.





	1. Cooper Meets Kione

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Take My Hand](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8469709) by [Queen_of_Derp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queen_of_Derp/pseuds/Queen_of_Derp). 



> This story heavily features OCs and OC relationships. If OCs are not your jam, I suggest checking out "[Symbiotic Relationship](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8461168)" by Razek.
> 
> We've worked very hard on this, and I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Headcanon note: This was written before official canon information came out about Jack's appearance. Jack in this story is 6'1" (185.4cm) with brown hair and dark green eyes.

The mess hall was noisy, but it was a good kind of noise. People were happy, jubilant even, that they were still alive. The tile floors and plasticrete walls reverberated with the sounds of laughter and conversation. They'd won the battle, and had hope, even if the war still had no end in sight.

Pilot Jack Cooper sat alone at one of the tables, eating something they claimed was cornbread, but managed to not look or taste anything like it. He looked at it skeptically, wrinkling his nose and narrowing his eyes at it, as if that would suddenly turn it into real cornbread. People swirled around him on their way to and from other tables, occasionally grabbing his shoulder, patting his back, or offering a wrist for a bump. He'd said "Thanks, but I was just doing what anyone would do," so many times that the reply had become automatic, and he wondered if he'd ever actually be able to finish eating, not that he really wanted to, if he was honest with himself.

Pilot Sola Kione _also_ was pretty skeptical that the food they'd been served was actually food. She stared at her tray, then headed for her usual table before she realized it was full. She sighed dramatically and made faces at her crew as she passed them, then scanned for an open seat. Her eyes passed by the ACE table, the grunt table, the cadet table, and something that looked suspiciously like a soccer mom pep rally, dismissing each in turn. Her eyes fell on Cooper a moment later and she nodded to herself.

She slid onto the bench across from Cooper with her chin perched on her hand, smiling impishly as her tray picked up her momentum and kept going after she'd stopped. She casually reached out a hand to halt its movement before it toppled off the table, her chin never leaving her other hand, and her eyes never leaving Cooper.

"Greetings, Destroyer of the Great Typhon," she smirked, a playful twinkle in her amber eyes.

"Thanks, but I was just doing what anyone would do," said Cooper, before startling a bit that someone had actually sat down with him. "Uh.. I mean... nice catch!" He opened another serving packet of butter and smeared it across the cornbread, his expression less hopeful and more resigned.

Kione laughed, sitting up and flipping her thick black braid from one shoulder to the other. She picked up her fork and stabbed at the cornbread, looking at it blankly as the cornbread defied her efforts to puncture it with a resounding clunk.

"This isn't cornbread," Jack muttered, then grabbed a bite of something that may have been a carrot. She shook her head and turned her attention to the rest of her food.  
  
"What are doing sitting over here alone, Pilot?"

"Honestly, it's because I couldn't decide where to sit. It wasn't that long ago I was just a Rifleman, but I still have a hard time believing I'm a Pilot, even after everything that's happened." He stabbed another hapless vegetable with his fork, "You're... Kione, right?"

"That's mah name, don't wear it out." The other pilot chuckled, reaching into one of her pockets and coming up with a handful of cereal bars, offering one to Cooper. "Don't touch the meat today. Cookie can't cook pork very well."

Cooper took the bar with a nod, "Thanks for the warning, and for this." He waggled the cereal bar before setting it aside and taking another bite of veggies.

"The family calls you Coop, but I'm guessing you'd rather be called Cooper?" she asked, opening one of the bars.

"I'm fine with either. I got used to Coop but then when I got promoted..." His mouth quirked up in a half smile, "Well, maybe I do like Cooper better."

Kione cackled and took a bite of her bar, chewing quietly and swallowing before she spoke again. "They rub off on ya, huh? All right, Cooper. Anyone Lastimosa would trust with BT, I'll at least gladly respect their choice of form of address."

Cooper's face briefly broke into a sunny grin at the mention of BT's name, which Kione noted with a slightly raised eyebrow, before he carefully schooled himself into a more neutral expression, giving up on the food on the tray and opening the cereal bar instead.

"How long have you been a pilot?" he asked, then took a bite and sighed happily.

Kione finished her cereal bar before answering.

"Let's see... Two years... one month...and maayybbbee 13 days, give or take. Hmph, you'd think by now they'd finally promote me. But I guess not," she replied, glaring at the vegetables on her plate, picking through them and muttering about texture.

Cooper nodded and raised an eyebrow at that, 'Heh, there's spots in the system where I'm still recorded as a Rifleman. Do you _want_ to get promoted?"

"It'd be nice, I could buy more cereal bars..." Kione looked longingly at her empty wrapper, before smirking and pulling another bar out of her pocket. She looked back at Cooper, "However, they all know I suck at taking responsibility. It'll probably take a near death experience for that to change."

Cooper chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I know what that feels like. Of course, I _had_ the near death experience and I still don't want that kind of responsibility."

Kione nodded, "Shit... I could never almost lose my titan like that. I'm glad to see him back, and with a good pilot too. You're a natural. " She looked around the mess as she unwrapped her second bar, noticing that most everyone had finally sat down. The conversations, while still boisterous, seemed muted as more mouths opened for food than for talking.

"I don't recommend it," he said, and frowned slightly. A moment later he brightened and flicked his fingers in a wave at someone who called "Hey Coop!" from a nearby table. "It's... I dunno what your Titan is like but... BT is a friend. It was ... heh.... it was not something I'd discuss over dinner." He picked up the remainder of the cereal bar and stuffed it in his mouth.

Kione chewed her bar and glanced over at the person who'd called out to Cooper, noticing that someone sitting at the same table had turned his head and was staring intently in their direction. Even at this distance, she could see the bright green of his eyes.

"I understand," she said, keeping the other man in view. She watched as green eyes said something quietly to the soldier next to him and got a nod in return, and his face turned a little paler than before. He continued to stare until he was startled out of it by the hearty back-slap delivered by the guy on his other side, and turned his attention back to his food, but still snuck glances now and then.

Cooper finally finished chewing the chunk of cereal bar, and prodded at the vegetables, "Well... I guess it's better than the field rations they give us. Still, seems a waste if they can't get someone to cook the meat properly."

"I'm not sure why they gave him pork and cornbread because he's super good at cooking everything else..." Kione grumbled. She leaned over the table towards Cooper, and said "Don't mean to startle you, but someone's been staring at you a bit more than usual. Rifleman, table five, your eight o'clock."

"Hm?" He swiveled around but the Rifleman in question noticed the movement, his eyes widening before he quickly turned away and hunched down over his food, shoveling it into his mouth as quickly as he was able. Cooper shrugged and turned back, "Dunno, I guess if he wants to say hi, he will." He started picking over his tray for any missed food that was actually edible.

Kione stared at Cooper with an extremely disappointed 'you have no idea how to peek' expression plastered across her face.  "I could call him over, maybe he knows you?" She glanced over at the clock on the wall - just a few minutes before she should start heading to the Titan bay.

Jack shrugged and smiled, glancing back at the Rifleman who was still resolutely applying himself to his food, "Sure, maybe he does." There _was_ something familiar about him, but Cooper couldn't put his finger on it.

"What are you doing after mess?" she asked.

"Didn't have any particular plans. BT and I are supposed to just 'take it easy'-," he replied, air quoting, "-while the neural link finishes repairing. I guess they want to make sure nothing weird happened since it's never been done before. So, no training for us, yet."

Kione nodded, then noticed that the unknown Rifleman had apparently finished his food. He suddenly  stood up with his tray and hurried away from his table, chased by the laughter of his tablemates. He was walking resolutely towards the conveyor that fed the dirty dishes into the kitchen to be washed.

"It's probably a good idea that they're grounding you. By the way, If you want, you and BT are free to come visit my bay to chat if you get bored. I'm there all the time, " she said, then leaned back and shouted "Rifleman!" after the retreating grunt, a devilish grin plastered across her face.

The Rifleman startled and tried to hunch down even more, but turned and looked over at her. She waved him over cheerfully, and someone from the table he'd been sitting at wolf-whistled. A faint blush settled across his cheeks as he started walking towards them, his expression resigned and wary.

Cooper turned and watched him approach, looking curious. "Yeah, yeah we can do that. Chatting is definitely on the list of approved activities." His voice dropped slightly, "Huh.. he looks familiar..."

"Does he?" Kione asked, lifting her eyebrow as the Rifleman got closer, straightening her shoulders and sitting upright. Being 5'5", she never quite projected that feeling of authority into anyone she summoned because usually they ended up being taller than her. She wasn't exactly trying to intimidate the Rifleman, but it was a habit to look bigger than she really was.

In this case, it seemed to work. The Rifleman definitely noted the 'air of authority', almost but not quite standing at attention when he got to the table. He let out a breath and gave an awkward little wave, "Hey, Coop... Good..." he cleared his throat, "good to see you alive..." He turned his attention to Kione, since she was the one who'd waved him over, and nodded a polite greeting despite the blush on his cheeks, "Ma'am?" It was Cooper's turn to stare intently, trying to place where exactly he'd seen this Rifleman before.

Kione's face twisted into a smirk. Oh, this was going to be fun. "I saw you watching Cooper here. Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to stare?" She tsked, shaking her head, "What's your name, Rifleman?"

"Ryan, ma'am. Nathaniel Ryan." He glanced at Cooper, then back to her. "It's just that Cooper and I were in basic at the same time, and I just found out he's the Pilot that saved my squad back on Typhon... I'm g-glad to see he's a-alive."

Jack made a fair impression of a deer in headlights at this revelation.

Kione's eyebrows lifted, "Well why didn't you say so?" She patted the seat by her, "Sit down? There's no need to be a shy guy."

Ryan cleared his throat, glancing at Cooper again, and Kione noticed his blush deepening, "I.. uh... maybe another time, ma'am. I gotta go get my room readyforinspection." He rushed the last bit out, looking like he was on the verge of some kind of breakdown. "Sorry, goodtoseeeyouCoop. Ma'am." With that, he nodded again, and walked away as quickly as possible.

Cooper watched him leave, still looking a little dumbfounded, "What was that all about?"

Kione watched the rifleman go, and shrugged. "I have no idea. But he knows you, and he seems..." The pilot paused. What _did_ it seem like? Was what she saw...? It was fairly possible, but she realized it might not be best to mention it. "Eh, never mind. I don't know what was crawling in that kid's MCUs."

She gathered her wrappers and picked up her tray. "I'm going to head to my bay, Jenny's probably getting impatient."

Cooper chewed the inside of his cheek, looking at the door the Rifleman - _Ryan, was it?_ \- had escaped through. "Hrm... Ah well." He stood up and grabbed his tray, "Impatient, huh? That seems like an odd thing for a Titan to be." He walked with Kione to drop the trays on the conveyor.

"She's VERY number-oriented, and hates it if I'm late. In the human world Jenny would be like that one manager that everyone despises because you checked in from break thirty seconds late." Kione joked, quickly sorting her trash and silverware from the dishes to make it easier for the dishwasher. "It's annoying, but for someone who used to always be super late... You have to adapt when someone's breathing down your neck about it. _Especially_ when they weigh over 40 tons."

Cooper chuckled as he sorted his tray, "That sounds like it took some getting used to? I'll come with, I should say hi to BT anyway."

Kione sighed, "You have NO idea." At the mention of BT, she looked over at Cooper, "As I said, you can bring him to the bay if he wants. There's enough room for three titans since Jenny's 'neighbors' moved to a different base."

Cooper nodded and glanced at the clock, "Better get a move on then, don't want you to be late."

Kione nodded, and exited the mess with Cooper trailing behind her. Up ahead in the corridor, she caught a glimpse of the Rifleman ducking back around a corner, and furrowed her eyebrows. When they passed the spot, however, the Rifleman was nowhere to be seen.


	2. Kione Meets Ryan

Rifleman Ryan retreated from the presence of Cooper as much as he retreated from the speculative gaze of the female Pilot, trying his best to keep his composure long enough to make it back to his room. Cooper was alive.  _ Cooper was alive _ .  **Jack** was  _ ALIVE _ . It almost hurt to think of it, but not nearly as much as it hurt when Ryan had resigned himself to Cooper's death, mourning, maybe especially, the fact that he'd never told Cooper -tried to never even let on- that he had feelings for him.

Now Ryan had another chance, and he just couldn't process it. He finally made it to his room and barely got the door closed and his face in the pillow before sobs of relief poured out of his mouth. He needed to tell Cooper. They were still at war, and if something happened again before Ryan had the balls to confess, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

He checked the clock on the wall. It hadn’t been that long... it was a safe bet they'd be in one of the hangars. Ryan went to the bathroom and cleaned his face up, took a deep breath... and sat back down on the bed. He put his head back in his hands miserably. He couldn't do it. Knew he had to, but couldn't. So he sat, indecisive, hoping for the courage to do what needed to be done. He would rather face an entire battalion of IMC grunts before having to face Cooper.

* * *

The Titan hangar wasn't bustling when Cooper and Kione arrived, but there were still plenty of people working in small groups throughout. It was relatively quiet, the clatter of tools and occasional shouts the only real noise above the steady hum of diagnostic computers and equipment. Faintly, the strains of the Free Harmony Opera drifted through the air; the music serene, but captivating. Kione eventually identified the source as an Ion class Titan, nearly lounging back in her bay as her Pilot worked on her leg, looking like she gave absolutely zero fucks.

About three-quarters down the row stood JNY-3763. A Vanguard class Titan, Jenny was painted in desert multicam with the emblem of a bird on her cockpit, and just slightly smaller than BT due to having a shorter leg length. Cooper trailed just behind Kione, quickly pushing away the very faint sense of  _ you don't belong here _ that he still got whenever he was around titans in the hangar. Some random mechanic gave him a wave and trotted off, presumably to fetch BT. 

"I don't know if I'll ever really get used to this...” He drummed his fingers on his thigh, almost nervously. 

"Hey, at least you’re not a brand new cadet. We throw wrenches at them." Kione joked, walking over to Jenny and knocking on her leg. The titan booted up, shaking herself.

" _ You're late. _ "

"Good to see you too, Jenny."

Cooper raised an eyebrow, chuckling softly. “You weren’t kidding…” he murmured, then raised his voice to speak to the titan. “My fault! I got your Pilot sidetracked in the mess hall."

Jenny's optical housing cocked to the side as her bright blue optic rotated counter-clockwise to focus on Cooper. "Jack Cooper, current Pilot of Unit BT-7274…?"

"She's a big fan of BT." Kione winked, getting an exasperated rumble of machinery in response.

"Pilot, please stop that."

"Uh... Naaah!" As if she was a child, Jenny actually stomped her foot at her pilot. Kione laughed, turning to Cooper. "Be glad your titan is so well-behaved. This is a daily occurrence."

Cooper's other eyebrow had joined the first, "No kidding. I guess I kind of thought that BT's attitude was kind of the norm...."

"Our personalities are randomized, as to help us be a better fit. Short and to the point works for some pilots, while it will not work for others. Compatible personalities helps build better combat relationships," Jenny stated, crouching down so Kione could climb up her front and pop open the hatch.

“Huh...Well, that does make sense. I guess it just never came up.”

As soon as Kione opened the hatch, a giant puff of vapor billowed out. "J-Jenny! You asshole!" She coughed, waving her hand in front of her face. If Jenny could make expressions, she would have had a smug grin plastered across her face.

"Or, if needed, personality helps keep pilots in line and on topic..." 

Cooper's jaw dropped at the treatment and he immediately began counting his blessings. "Um... are you okay?" he asked worriedly

The cloud cleared, leaving Kione’s face covered in condensation, but she was smiling.

"I'm fine. She's played that prank on me before."

"I am still trying to process how you fell for it again," Jenny’s voice hinted laughter. Her pilot managed to chuckle, wiping her face clean.

"So Cooper, are you going to skip out entirely on Pilot school?"

"I don't know, honestly... I have a feeling it would help with a couple things I need work on, but-" He cut himself short as BT rounded the hangar doors and made a beeline for him. Cooper’s face lit up and he ran to meet BT, throwing himself trustingly straight at the Vanguard, who caught Cooper with one hand and carried him back to where Kione and Jenny were.

"Hey big fella," he laughed, looking completely unabashed at the display. BT squinted his optic happily at his Pilot.

"Hello Jack.” 

Kione and Jenny watched Cooper before looking at each other, the female Pilot smiling broadly. She kept smiling even as they came back.

"-but they say there's really not much more that I need to do because of how well BT and I work together," Cooper continued, lounging in BT's hand as the Titan crouched down.

"I can see that. Hello again, BT,” said Kione.

"Unit BT." Jenny nodded her optical unit, "Taking Protocol 3 very seriously, huh?"

" **_JENNY._ ** " 

"Hello Pilot Kione. Hello Jenny." BT curled his fingers a little closer around Cooper, "That is correct. I will not lose another Pilot. "

"Huh, that answer was better than I expected. But still-" Kione gently smacked Jenny's chassis, the titan looking up. " _ Bad girl. _ "

"I had to ask."

"So bad!" Kione laughed, "How have things been?"

"Better now that I am in a chassis again," BT replied. "The neural link repair is progressing extremely well."

"I'm glad to hear." Kione looked at Cooper, "How long till you think both of you will be fully functional and back out there kicking ass?"

Cooper opened his mouth, but BT already had an answer. "If the repair continues at its current rate we will be able to begin training again in approximately two weeks." 

The Pilot nodded, elaborating on the subject, "They want us to start over with some of the basics, just to be on the safe side."

"That would probably be wise," Jenny agreed.

"There was a kind of side-effect that we’ve discovered. I’m not sure why, but the neural link is stronger this time around.” Cooper started to grin, “I'm actually pretty excited to get back into the fight to test it out."

"Stronger? How so?" Jenny squinted quizzically, curious.

Cooper's smile grew wider as he craned his head back to look up at BT, who in turned looked down at him. "Wanna try that thing we were working on?"

"It should be an adequate demonstration."

"Okay go ahead."

BT closed his optic shutters until the bright blue was completely covered. Cooper's face went from relaxed good humor to extreme focus, and he held his hand out in front of him. BT mirrored his actions with his free hand, copying every movement perfectly from clenching his fist to waggling his fingers. After a few seconds he sagged back against BT’s hand, relaxing, and BT opened his optic again.

"Pilot control without a helmet. Pretty cool, huh?" said Cooper.

Kione clapped, grinning, "That's amazing!"

"While I can see this being extremely useful, I have my concerns." Jenny's optic rotated, "What if you become hurt, Pilot? Will Unit BT still be able to function in order to upkeep Protocol 3?"

BT hummed, "So far in our testing-"

“Screwing around!" chirped Cooper, cheerfully.

“-it is temporary. If Cooper loses focus, control immediately reverts. It is a reasonable assumption that if he is injured or otherwise unable to focus on the link, it will not be an issue for me to uphold Protocol 3."

"Understandable." Jenny blinked.

"Honestly, tech like that would be amazing. But I hope that it doesn’t take titans almost dying to achieve it." Kione grimaced.

"Me either," Cooper sighed. "That's why we don't really show it off except as a neat party trick. If it turns out to be useful, eh, that's a different story. Time will tell, I guess!"

"Indeed." Jenny agreed, but her optic squinted. "I am unfamiliar with the term ‘party trick'."

"It's like melting a spoon made of sugar in water, that's a party trick,” said Kione.

"How did you make a spoon from sugar?"

"I don't know, maybe like the same way you make candy?" Kione replied crossly.

Cooper chuckled at the exchange, then stretched.

"Hey, we're gonna take off, maybe go say hi to Lastimosa’s Ghost over at the Gauntlet. Linking like that takes a lot out of me... another reason why it might not end up being worth anything."

"Awww, don't be like that, Cooper." Kione waved her hand, "But I'll see you later, alright?"

"It was good to see you," Jenny stated flatly, then squinted in frustration.

"Her AI is bad at goodbyes.”

" **Hey** .”

Cooper laughed as BT transferred him to the top of his chassis.

"Goodbye Pilot Kione. Goodbye Jenny," said BT. Cooper grabbed one of the safety bars, gave a jaunty little two finger salute, and called out a ‘Later!’

BT turned and left the hangar, leaving Kione to chuckle and shake her head. He and Cooper were so relaxed around each other. It was no wonder they worked so well together as a team. She stretched her back, crossing her hand behind her head before she caught a glimpse of someone sitting on a catwalk nearby.

Kione squinted, followed by a double-take. It was that Rifleman again! He was sitting with his legs dangling down, staring out over the hangar in the direction that Cooper and BT had left in. She narrowed her eyes, opening the escape hatch on the top of the titan, and quietly slipped into Jenny’s cockpit.

"Jenny, you see that Rifleman over there?"

"...Yes?"

"Activate Program 138873: Grab-and-Return."

"Understood,” Jenny rumbled playfully, shutting the escape hatch. She walked over to the catwalk, just in front of the rifleman, who pulled his legs in and stood up, leaning against the railing and watching her. "Soldier, I require assistance.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow and looked around. He wasn’t used to being approached by titans. "Sure, whatcha need?"

"It seems my pilot has left a tool in my cockpit. I cannot contact them, and the item is most uncomfortable. My escape hatch is unlocked, would you please remove it? It is jammed right behind the Aim control."

"Huh? Uh..." He looked around again for someone with more expertise, but none of the other pilots or mechanics were in the immediate area. "Sure, I guess? Uh… how do I... " He gestured vaguely to the front of the her chassis.

"Just lift the hatch and lean in. You might have to dangle slightly, but the tool is within reach. I will help you back out once you have it. It would be most appreciated."

Ryan gulped nervously. This was definitely an unusual situation. He got down on his knees and leaned back off the catwalk, hanging onto a support railing with one hand, and lifted the hatch. He leaned further in, letting go of the support, "Okay, where do I need to be looking?"

Like a snake, hands reached out and grabbed Ryan by the collar and wrist, making him yelp in surprise. He was dragged fully inside the Titan, Jenny slamming the hatch shut behind him and locking it. The interior blue lights turned on, exposing Kione.

"Hello again," she said, her expression bordering on hostile. She had pulled the rifleman in to sit on her lap, facing him towards her while his back was pressed to the ‘front’ of the cockpit. It was mighty cramped, but she had the upper hand even from the bottom.

“Oh,  _ shit _ ," he whimpered, putting his face in his hands. "Shit.”

"Look, kid," Kione started, completely unfazed, crossing her arms, "I'm sorry for doing this to you but I wanted to stop you on Day One before you crash and burn. Let me ask you this right away: are you crushing on Cooper?"

Ryan looked away, blushing, and tapped his two index fingers together.

"I... uh... shit. I'm that obvious? Cooper never seemed to notice... I just...  _ fuck _ ." He blew out a breath, tipping his head back against an interior panel. "Yes. For... uh... a long time. And when the  _ MacAllan _ went down, I thought he was dead."

Kione's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"You- Oh.  _ Oh _ . I... Well, I expected you to deny it but... Okay, well, I apologize about this. I thought maybe you were a stalker... But seriously, don't become one, please." She felt awkward now, thinking she might have overreacted a little. Jenny seemed to internally agree with her on that.

"No, it's... it's okay. It’s like a well-known secret. The guys at the table earlier.... they all know how I feel but Cooper’s so … oblivious, and everyone knows I don’t… that I can’t... Y-you didn't say anything to him, did you?" Ryan looked about ready to panic.

"No, I didn't tell him. I don't usually do that stuff unless I know for sure. I mean, I do now, but yeah. Honestly, I thought you were another one of those hero worshippers. I mean, some of them aren’t bad, but..." Kione shrugged. "How long have you liked him?"

Ryan looked exceedingly uncomfortable, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Seven-" he started, then made an obvious fake cough.

"...Seeeevvvven what?"

"... Years?" Ryan’s voice was barely above a whisper. He cringed, waiting for the inevitable laughter he was sure would come. Kione didn't laugh, only stared at him with her mouth agape. 

Jenny, noticing the silence, chiming in, "That sounds extremely unhealthy."

"Jenny." Kione groaned, glaring at one of the lights.

"I'll shut up now."

"So, you've liked him for seven years, but… you've never… told him?"

Ryan looked down at his hands. "Never seemed like a good time. We went to basic together but we were assigned to different squadrons... our paths would cross just enough to remind me how I felt but not enough for me to do anything about it. Heh. I even tried to forget about him. Tried dating a few times. It never worked out so eventually I just ... stopped."

Kione blinked slowly, letting out a deep sigh. "Well, I can tell you for a fact he's going to be here for a while.  _ And _ that Jenny is right; it's not healthy to not talk to him about it, Ryan...  _ especially  _ if you're finding it hard to move on."

"Thank you, Pilot." Jenny said quietly, enjoying the praise. She started walking back to her bay, the pair inside rocking slightly with the movement.

Ryan tipped his head back again with a thunk.

"I know. I know, and it makes perfect sense when you say it like that... but today he came back from the dead... you know? I mourned him... thought I'd seen a ghost when that guy said hi to him." He laughed, but it wasn't humorous. "He saved my life and I didn't even know it was him until today. I thought I was gonna have a panic attack when you waved me over."

Kione listened quietly, her face changing to one of understanding. She nodded slowly, sighing. "I apologize for that, I had no idea that's what happened. I didn't even know about what happened on Typhon until very recently." Jenny stopped walking, clearing her 'throat'. "You should grab onto my shoulders, Jenny's going to open the cockpit so we can get out."

"Okay." Ryan heaved a sigh and nodded, then awkwardly half-stood and leaned over the seat, grabbing her shoulders for balance. "This is ... really weird." He laughed, maybe a touch hysterically.

"Not really." Kione shrugged, listening for the cockpit to open, and realized that Ryan would end up getting dumped on the floor if he stayed where he was. She quickly grabbed his leg and pulled him off balance towards her, scooping him up in a front-facing piggy-back style hold, making him exclaim in surprise.

The cockpit opened and she stepped out onto Jenny's hand so the Titan could lower them to the floor. Only then did she realize exactly how _ intimately _ she was holding Ryan, how he was clinging to her, and how awkward it was definitely going to look if anyone saw them. Her face went blank as someone across the hangar dropped a tool on the floor.

"Uh... you're really strong, but-” Ryan ‘coughed’, “-do you think you could put me down now?"

"Yeah," she stated flatly, letting go of his legs to let him get his feet under him. "Sorry about that, didn't want to accidentally give a rifleman a concussion."

Ryan cleared his throat and immediately stepped back off Jenny's hand, slipping a little, laughing awkwardly as he caught himself.

"Ah-heh. Um... thanks... er... for listening."

"You're welcome. But seriously-” Kione’s face got very serious, “- talk to him. I need to get back to work on fixing my Titan."

"Yeah... You're right. I’ll talk to him. But maybe not today."

“Good luck, Ryan.”

He smiled and made a little wave before walking away. Kione watched him go, smiling back and shaking her head at Jenny. Jenny only squinted, the two continuing their work.


	3. The Battle of Liona

Kione never liked a mission that she went in on blind. It was reasonable, considering the Militia had only intercepted the intel a few days before, but she felt they should have spent more time looking into the possibility of it being a trap. However, she didn't argue when they told her to report, and now sat on Jenny's shoulder near the dropships with some of the titans from the 6-4. She waited for her turn to load and wondered if the ground support would be riflemen or spectres. Whichever it was, they would all be briefed on the way.

Ryan never felt more like cattle than he did while prepping for a deployment. He walked along the line with the rest of his squad, picking up his assigned gear from exactly the same stations and in exactly the same way as everyone else, and resisted the urge to moo. He'd been deployed before but something about this one irked him, making him feel churlish. He strapped on his gear, one of several in a group at the end of the line, then headed for the dropships with the rest of the livestock.

Kione didn't notice Ryan until Jenny made a quiet comment, and looked down in surprise. Her eyebrows rose slightly as she leaned forward and waited until he was close enough to hear her.

"We meet again."

Ryan looked around before he tipped his head back and spotted Kione sitting on the titan.

"Hello again... Lucky us, huh?" he said sourly, then shook himself and grinned at her. “Sorry, I’m in a mood.” Something flickered in his eyes as Ryan suddenly remembered he still hadn't approached Cooper, his smile growing sheepish. Kione guessed what that smile was for, but with bigger problems on her mind, she decided to keep her mouth shut. She grinned lopsidedly in return, holding her helmet in her hands.

"You know anything about this mission, kid?"

Ryan shook his head. "No ma'am, they've kept mum on this, which means it's something big they can't afford to talk about until we're in the air." He bounced on his feet slightly, shifting some of his armor into a more comfortable position, "To be honest it kind of bugs me when they do that."

Kione nodded and looked around the marshaling area before she hopped down off Jenny. "I'd be lying if I didn't say these kinds of missions are what wipes out squads. I heard they have some new guys meeting us there, they’re supposed to be the ones protecting you riflemen from heavy fire once we get the titans. Honestly-" she looked over, "-stay away from them. New pilots are hotheads."

Ryan nodded and considered her words. He'd always been in awe of the titans and sometimes wondered what it would be like to be a Pilot, but didn't think he'd ever want that responsibility. Still, he couldn’t deny that fighting alongside them was a thrill.

"Yes, ma'am. Hopefully the briefing will clear everything up."

"I hope so…” The loadmaster called out for the titans to load, and she scrambled back up onto Jenny. “See you on the ground," she called as Jenny turned and walked towards the dropship.

A moment later, Ryan's team leader shouted for the riflemen to get on board another dropship, and Ryan made a last check of his gear, slapping himself down before he trotted along with everyone else to board the transport.

Once they jumped away from Harmony, the team leader addressed his men. He didn't seem happy, but that was typical.

"All right, here's the deal. Recently, the Militia intercepted some intel that revealed an IMC stronghold on planet Liona. It isn't exactly a military base so much as it is a research facility. We don’t want a repeat of Typhon, so we’re going to go in there, get whatever intel we can, and get out. We shouldn’t have much resistance, but if you see a titan, keep your fucking heads down and let the pilots do their work; our mission is to breach that stronghold and clear a pathway, all right?"

Ryan grumbled softly. Research facilities usually meant civilians and while maybe they weren't exactly innocent to be involved with the IMC at all, he did have some ethics, even if his very job was to kill people. He frowned, thinking of Kione’s words about squads getting wiped out, and glanced around at his group, wondering how many of them would, or wouldn't, come back.

The ride was uneventful and the team leader laid out the attack plan long before they were in orbit. They would wait until the terminator passed and it was near dawn before they dropped, then rendezvoused with the pilots who had already landed, taking advantage of the local terrain. Liona was once populated with colonists, but all that was left now were abandoned towns and cities... perfect for cover.

“Stand by!”

Ryan fought the adrenaline spike at the words and slowed his breaths, allowing himself to slip into the extreme focus needed for the task at hand, his face going almost cold as he climbed into the drop pod with three others. He closed his eyes and made a brief prayer to the fates that he'd come back alive. The team leader stuck his head in and made sure they were all good before he closed the pod. A moment later, Ryan’s stomach was in his throat as the pod released from the transport, and the radio crackled to life. He recognized Kione’s voice and grimaced at her words.

"-is Pilot Kione and I repeat, the riflemen's drop zone is hot! Adjust your drop trajectory! The intel was wrong and they are landing near IMC forces. Heading to assist!"

Ryan swore loudly and colorfully, "We're gonna have to come out weapons free, guys! Be ready!" It was both the longest and shortest 17 seconds of drop the rifleman had experienced.

Meanwhile, Kione was sprinting so fast she was sure her legs weren't even touching the ground, three more Militia pilots right behind her as they ran to assist the riflemen. As much as pilots liked to believe they were what held the militia together, she knew it was actually the ground forces. They were the entire backbone of most operations, and right now they were extremely important for getting into that facility. She could hear shouts over the comm as they tried to regroup, some getting cut off.

"Come on guys, just hold out a little longer," she whispered, holding her gun close as she leapt to another building roof.

Ryan had his weapon at the ready almost as soon as the pod hit the ground. He waited for the door to open, and immediately looked around to figure out where they were in relation to the IMC forces before he stepped out and ran for cover. The other three riflemen with him moved just as quickly, a firefight already in progress around them.

Ryan frowned as he realized luck was against them; the pods landed right outside the outdoor IMC barracks. Fortunately, the IMC grunts were taken by surprise, being mostly unarmed and easy to gun down, but those who _were_ armed were using heavy weapons. Ryan noted with some dismay that an IMC Titan hangar was also nearby, and from the looks of the people running inside, his team didn’t have a lot of time before the titans started to come online.

Ryan darted forward with his group, trying to stay low and take out the IMC grunts with the heavy weapons, while trying not to think too much about what would happen once the IMC titans got into the fight. There was a wet tearing noise behind him, and his group was down to three.

Nearby, Kione skidded to a halt on a roof overlooking the area and put her hand to her helmet near her comm. "Report positions!" The other three pilots waited with her.

Ryan spoke up as they tried to get to the side of the building where they'd have more cover.

"Barracks on the hangar side. We've lost Scofield already." He paused to fire a few suppressing shots towards the remaining heavy weapons grunts, his team almost to the relative safety of the building. "They’ve got heavies and are scrambling their titans."

Kione turned her head between points and murmured to herself. Out of thirty riflemen, they had already lost seven. She’d aimed to lose less than five the whole mission.

"All forces, shift west! Stay as far as you can from that hanger. Do not engage the enemy unless you absolutely have to!" She and the three pilots leapt down off the roof, and split up to assist any pinned teams. One of the pilots threw ticks and sent them straight for the titan hanger.

Ryan motioned to his team to move out, trying to put some distance between themselves and the hangar as quickly as possible. Nearby, one of the pilots made short work of the remaining heavy weapons grunts. This was a bad situation and Ryan was afraid it would only get worse. He heard the explosions of the ticks, then felt a chill crawl up his back as he also heard the telltale sounds of titan movement over the sounds of the battle. "MOVE!" he shouted, as he broke into a run.

Kione made fast work of the heavy weapons grunts, then scrambled up a wall and perched on the roof, watching the team's escape. She heard the titan and hissed in dismay. Jenny and the rest of the titans weren't ready. She tightened her gloves and headed towards the sound. Rodeo time...

As Ryan passed by a building, well behind his two teammates, a figure dropped down on top of him and knocked him to the ground. He yelled as the attacker pinned him before he could bring his weapon to bear, then tried to stab Ryan with a very large knife. A moment later a shot rang out and the enemy’s head exploded into a spray of blood and bone. The body flopped lifelessly to the side, the knife thudding to the ground.

" _Get moving, kid,_ " a deep voice crackled over the comm. " _I won't be so nice again._ ”

Ryan scrambled to his feet, collected his weapon and bolted after his teammates, muttering "Thanks" over the comm. He looked back over his shoulder once to try to figure out if he needed to start dodging titans or not. Kione rolled off a nearby roof, the two titan batteries on her back causing her to lose her balance and almost slip as she landed. She staggered back up and sprinted across the grass to fall in line next to Ryan.

"Hello again." Her voice sounded different coming from the helmet, obviously feminine but slightly warped. In his ear from the comm, however, she sounded perfectly normal. Ryan glanced over and managed a jaunty smile despite the blood spattered across his face.

"Ma'am! Good to see you again. Nice to see this turn into a shitshow sooner than later!" he groused.

Kione glanced over, then reached down and pulled a scarf from her pouch before handing it over. "Good to see you too. Here. Can't say I agree, I was hoping for very few casualties today."

Ryan rubbed the blood off his face, "Yeah... would have been nice but shit... who fucking dropped the ball on the intel."

"For all we know, the intel could have been off from the start." She glanced back at the sound of titan weapons before she heard a shot rip through the air followed by the distinct sound of a titan optical popping. "Sniper?"

"Yeah, probably the same one who saved my ass, whoever he was. Damn good shot."

A moment later, that deep voice crackled through the comm again, " _You're welcome._ "

Ryan laughed softly off the comm and murmured, "There he is." He took a breath, then said, "Shit, well what do we do now? Do we even know what the hell we're here for anymore? This was supposed to be a research facility, not a hornet's nest."

"We still have the same mission, it’s just more complicated. The pilots with the data knives might be dead, so I want you and the rest of the riflemen to meet the newbie pilots at the facility, hook up the backup data transmitter and download as much shit as you can, then get the fuck outta there. Understood?" Kione darted into a building and ducked down as an IMC drone passed by overhead.

"Roger that!" Ryan called as he spotted the rest of his squad up ahead and started to move towards them.

"Good luck, kid!" Kione shouted.

Ryan rejoined his team and as they moved out in the direction of the facility, they tried to stay behind cover as much as possible. They avoided the IMC forces when they could, and tried to kill them quickly if they couldn’t.

* * *

 

Pilot Colton lay flat across the roof of the research facility, a small camera nearby. It rotated and locked on to something, his Titan relaying the target’s location and pertinent information to him a moment later. Every shot from his massive sniper rifle had enough recoil to knock the wind out of one if they weren't ready, but he used as easily it as if it were a common pistol. He managed to thwart most of the attackers, clearing a path for the riflemen to come through. He also managed to save one particular rifleman that an IMC grunt had gotten the drop on. He noticed familiar gold armor near the soldier he’d just saved, and watched and listened to them for a moment before chiming in with “You’re welcome.”

" _Pilot, the riflemen are almost ready to begin the breach._ "

"Thank you, Nini." Colton grinned, then grabbed the camera and rifle before heading for the side of the building to slide down to the four other pilots who waited nearby. They’d already cleared the grounds of the research facility, but they needed the charges the riflemen carried to continue the mission.

Ryan almost sighed in relief when he finally spotted their destination, then waved his team forward, glad to see the rest of his squad getting there at about the same time from a different angle. It wasn't long before the charges were set and the riflemen were well clear of the blast area. He made sure the pilots were ready, and then signaled again.

"Okay, here we go!" A moment later, a massive chunk was vaporized out of the facility wall.

Colton stood near the wall as it disintegrated, then lifted his gun and peeked around the rough edge of the hole.  Ryan looked at the sniper rifle speculatively, then shook his head sharply. _Mission first, questions later_.

Colton took out as many security cameras or automated turrets that he could see, then leaned back out and gave the riflemen the thumbs up.

"Clear!"

Ryan and the rest of his squad moved in, a handful remaining near the hole to guard it, while the rest moved inside to make their way to a room their intel said housed a massive server mainframe. They met no resistance as they made their way deeper into the facility, not a civilian to be seen. Colton came up the behind the riflemen, then moved to the point position, sniper rifle slung over his back as he held a short range shotgun at his hip.

They swiftly made it to the proper room, which did indeed house the equipment they wanted, and quickly hooked up the data transmitter. Ryan's back prickled and he frowned in annoyance, feeling uneasy.

"Something isn't right," Colton murmured once everything had been set up. Another pilot that had come with them seemed equally uneasy, and mentioned calling for titanfall. After all the opposition they gone through to get in, it was far too quiet inside the building itself.

A strident beeping filled the air and was silenced a moment later by a medic. "Pilot Colton,” he said, and Colton turned towards him. “We just lost the two other pilots with Pilot Kione's squad. None of the titans have dropped yet."

Ryan frowned and watched the transmitter as it began to collect and send data. He looked over at Colton worriedly. There was only one force that could reasonably take out two experienced pilots that quickly, and that was an IMC pilot with a titan. The situation was rapidly going from bad to worse.

The new pilots collectively concluded they were going to call for titanfall and defend the building until the remaining pilots could join them. Only Colton volunteered to stay behind, and watched the newbies leave, certain they were going to die. Looking back at the transmitter, he noticed one of the riflemen staring strangely at the screen. The rifleman made a comment to his friend about a massive program before Colton shrugged and ambled over to Ryan, crouching near him.

"How much do you think we can get before they cut us off?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, "We've got a good transmission rate, about the only thing that's gone right so far. There's bound to be something useful in this mess, and we’re getting it pretty quickly." He shook his head, then took a closer look at the sniper rifle slung over the pilot's back. "Was that you that took that shot, sir?"

Colton nodded and took off his helmet to let his messy red curls fall out, then pushed them away from his bright blue eyes.

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, why?"

Ryan gaped for a split second as his heart made an odd flip-flop, then quickly schooled his expression and said, "Oh uh.. just wanted to say thanks, uh, again... for saving my life..."

Colton nodded proudly, which knocked his hair into his face again. "No problem."

Ryan tilted his head, "Wait... aren't you... didn't you used to be a rifleman?"

"Yeah, Bravo Sierra, that was almost 18 months ago. Ah, excuse my rudeness, forgot to introduce myself. Pilot Colton, at your service."

"Oh yeah! I remember you from when you first got assigned to Demeter Memorial, your... uh... you stood out.” He grinned sheepishly and offered a hand. “RC-2 Ryan.”

Colton shook it and smiled broadly, which showed off his bright white teeth. "Nice to meet you, but... stood out? Did I? I bet it was the hair, everyone thought I dyed it..." he rumbled, and ran his fingers through it again as he surveyed the room.

"Well, that and your height," Ryan found himself warming up to the pilot despite the situation. “I didn't realize becoming a pilot was something that could just be done. I guess I thought Ja-- I mean, Cooper was an unusual case.”

"It's really not easy,” the pilot said, “I spent almost a year trying to pass tests to get in. Lots of them."

Ryan looked over at the riflemen monitoring the data transmission and chewed on his lip thoughtfully, then looked back at Colton, "Is it worth it?"

Colton chuckled, then sighed and looked at Ryan. "You shouldn't ask me that yet. This is my first mission as a pilot."

"No shit? Uh... well... Good luck, sir?" Ryan said awkwardly, and felt a blush creep up his cheeks. He quickly called over to the riflemen at the data transmitter to cover his embarrassment, "Ey, Romeo! Chavez! How we doing guys?"

"Thanks," Colton muttered, and pushed his hair out of his eyes again. He needed a haircut...

"Pretty good but... we've been downloading a harvesting program for the last four minutes." Romeo grinned sheepishly. Chavez muttered curses as he stared at the screen.

"Can we just skip it?"

Ryan’s brow furrowed. "A harvesting program? 'scuse me," he stepped over Colton, and walked over to the transmitter for a look, "It... are you sure that's what this is?"

"Sure is." Romeo leaned over so the other could see that it was, indeed, a group of files labeled 'harvesting program'. It was several hundred terabytes big, some of the file names unreadable. Ryan hummed thoughtfully as a shiver of excitement rippled up his spine.

"I don't think that's all this is. The harvester mods we used back home were never this massive. Don't skip this one, it might be worth something."

Romeo nodded and sat back as he let the download finish. Chavez shook his head and looked at Romeo. "There better be some new porn on this download."

" _Dude_."

Ryan snorted, "You guys are awful. Thinking about porn at a time like this!"

"What?" Chavez shrugged, "IMC porn is exotic, haven't you heard?"

Colton glared at him, then looked up at the ceiling as several loud booms thudded through the air. He stood up and checked his weapon. "The titans are dropping..."

Moments later the sound of heavy weapons echoed down the hallway, and the pilot winced and looked at the riflemen. "Weapons ready. We download what we can until they storm us, lock us out, or lose signal."

Ryan readied his rifle and moved towards the door, tapping his finger above the trigger guard as he listened to the sounds of battle get closer. He looked over at Colton, then down at his helmet, his face shifting from worry to business as he nodded at the pilot. At least the pilot was with them. That counted for a lot.

Colton nodded back, put on his helmet and moved to the other side of the doorway. They would hold their ground as long as they could. The civies had long since evacuated to the bomb shelter, they had no need to take hostages. Sighing, he wondered how everything was faring for Kione.

Ryan was wondering that too, and wondering if one of the telltale booms he heard was her titan. He chewed on his lip out of habit, impatiently waiting for when they could get the hell out of there.

The sounds of battle had grown since that thought, and a few minutes later, another one of the medical trackers the medics carried started beeping. The medic looked down at it and whispered a curse, his face twisting. _Another pilot alert_. Colton suddenly swapped the shotgun in favor of his sniper rifle and pointed it down the hall. In one of the tempered glass windows, he could see the reflected silhouettes of people further down the hallway. Ryan whipped his head around at the sound of the bracelet and hissed, "Who?" He noticed Colton's movement out of the corner of his eye and turned so he was off to the side of the doorway, removing himself as a target, but still stared at the medic.

"Pilot Kione's heart rate skyrocketed. She's injured, but I don't know how bad."

Ryan twitched at the mention of Kione’s name, glancing at the pilot across the doorway. Colton looked at the medic, then looked back down the hallway and swore.

"I need to get to the roof,” the pilot said firmly.

Ryan pulled a datapad off a magnetic clip on his thigh, loaded the building schematics, and quickly thumbed through them to find the easiest route to the roof. The pilot growled, firing his rifle and blowing someone's head off as they rounded the corner, spraying blood everywhere. There was a flurry of activity and shouting, and Chavez moved up to the wall next to Ryan, his weapon at the ready.

Ryan pointed to another door off the server room. "Pilot. Through there, two doors down on the right side of the hallway is a stairwell that has roof access." He reattached the datapad and then crouched next to Chavez, taking aim down the hallway. Ryan wondered if Colton would be able to get to Kione, wherever she was.

Colton nodded, shouldered his rifle in favor of his shotgun, and darted across the room and through the door. He headed for the stairwell that Ryan pointed out and clicked his comm on the way, "Nini, are you still docked?"

" _Yes, Pilot._ "

"Good. Find Kione as soon as I’m on the roof." He took the stairs three at a time, and stopped once when the stairwell door on the third floor started to open as he passed it. He kicked it closed, then opened it again quickly, taking three IMC grunts by surprise. He killed all three before he continued up the stairwell and finally found the roof access. He ran out, slid across to the edge and set up the camera, looking through his scope to try and find out what was going on.

Downstairs, Ryan killed two more IMC grunts that stuck their heads around the corner, while Chavez got a third. He glanced back at Romeo and gestured to the rest of his squad, "Weapons free, people. I think our visit is almost up."

Romeo grumbled as the last of the harvesting program finished, then loaded a bug that would continue downloading even after they hit the road. The rest of the squad was ready, guarding the doors.

Nini used the camera to focus in, then bumped her pilot in the bond. "Look, there."  
  
Colton looked down the scope of his rifle just in time to see Jenny be knocked off her feet and slammed to the ground by a pair of IMC titans, his helmet picking up an immediate titan distress signal. To his horror, he watched blood spray everywhere as a Ronin used an execution move on the Vanguard, and sliced the titan nearly in half including a chunk of the cockpit. The new pilot's breath hitched, shocked. Downstairs, the medic's wristband started to beep louder and faster, and he quickly moved to silence it.

Colton came out of his shock moments later, and anger bubbled through him as he reached into one of his ammo pouches and pulled out the deadliest round he had.

_"Sir, that is a superheated round."_

"I know that," Colton said as he loaded it into the gun. He usually used that type of round if he wanted to injure someone with a direct hit instead of killing them. The bullet would pass through anything it touched while cauterizing it at the same time. However, if it went through someone's head or throat, they would die painfully. He was after that result now.

Colton took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he lined up the shot. But anger and adrenaline coursed through him and made it hard to keep the barrel steady. The two IMC pilots disembarked and approached Jenny. The Ronin pilot pulled a gun while the other went to open the hatch, these actions only serving to stress him further. Kione was going to die because he couldn't calm down.

She would die, and it would be his fault.

Colton couldn't take it and lined up his shot the best he could, and fired hastily. He knew his aim was off the moment the bullet left the muzzle and zipped through the air. The Ronin pilot turned his head at the last millisecond, and the bullet shattered the lower half of his helmet off his face as it grazed his head, but didn’t do any serious damage. Colton cursed, went to the other IMC pilot and took a pop shot, but missed wildly. The two ran for their titans and embarked, and he fired at them again, even though he knew it was useless. The Ronin came back to Jenny...

“Goddamnit, stop!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, only able to watch as the IMC titan stabbed her again, and twisted the blade mercilessly before it turned and walked off.

" _Pilot, you cannot hit anything in your current state. I suggest calming down_."

Colton lay on the building and pulled the trigger until it did nothing but click, the magazine empty. His face was hot with anger as he stared at the motionless Vanguard.

" _...pilot?_ "

Colton ignored his titan, stood up, and swung his rifle over his shoulder without a word, then picked up the camera and shoved it back in his pocket to return downstairs.

* * *

Ryan and the other riflemen made quick work of the IMC grunts that tried to come down the hallway. He knew they didn't have much time, but the repeated alarm from the medic's tracker made him feel a sick, anxious worry for Kione. He wasn't sure he could call her a friend, but he supposed the relationship they had was close enough. He glanced at the door where Colton had gone, and waited impatiently for the order to move out.

Colton came down the stairs and kicked the door open and slammed it shut behind him. He was so furious that the group of IMC grunts he ran into from behind didn’t stand a chance. He assassinated every last one before he made it back to the server room.

"Bad news, more IMC back-up on the way."

"Did you see Kione?! We need to get out of here. We have enough data, don't we? How much longer before we can get the fuck out of Dodge?" Ryan's words were belied by his calm voice, as he expertly tossed a grenade down the hall at just the right angle to have it bounce further down the corridor, where there were a few frantic cries followed by an explosion and then silence.

"Kione is fucked up, I don't know if she's alive or not but she's almost a klick northeast. Jenny is down, and there’s IMC between us and her." He reloaded his sniper rifle and pointed it down the hallway to watch for stragglers. "There's an influx of IMC at the front but not the back; we can move out now and let the the bug and this transmitter will keep doing the work for use until they destroy them both. Thoughts?"

"Sign me the fuck up, sir! Let's move, people!" Ryan circled his hand and motioned to the back door and waited for the rest of the squad to move out while he covered the hallway.

Colton kept his aim down the hallway until only Ryan was left. "Go ahead, rifleman, I've got you covered. I see someone coming so I'll catch up." He pushed his head against his gun. "Hey tech, drop my titan on these coords."

" **Roger, pilot. Stand by for Titanfall.** "

"She'll be waiting for y'all out back," Colt glanced at Ryan and nodded.

"Take care, sir." Ryan nodded back as he swiftly crossed the room to rejoin his squad, then hustled his team along the corridors to the back of the facility. Outside stood a white Northstar with a pair of hungry jaws painted across the front, crouched down with her weapon up. The drop shield was still active, and the riflemen quickly took cover behind her. Ryan knew they had a long fight on their hands if they wanted to get out alive. There was no shortage of targets as the area crawled with IMC soldiers, but thankfully no IMC titans were in sight.. yet.

As if karma decided to flip them the finger, around the corner of a decayed building came a massive Legion unit. Despite the Northstar being protected in the drop shield, she tensed. "Rifleman, stay in my shields," her voice rang out over the comm. She fired rounds at the Legion but didn’t move a hair from her spot. Ryan mentally cursed as the squad carefully kept Northstar between the Legion and them.

"Just a research facility," he growled under his breath, as he picked off a few of the grunts who moved in tandem with the titan. The titan paused, unsure of how to attack the Northstar with the shield still up. The grunts around the Legion quickly fell back to hide behind it and buildings, shouting at each other. Nini huffed.

"Pilot, I require assistance."

" _Everybody does, I'm heading back to the roof right now_." Colton sounded out of breath, " _Damn sunnovabitch_."

Ryan couldn't do anything but wait. No one wanted to try to rodeo the Legion, so for now the safest spot for them was exactly where they were, where they had the added benefit of the drop shield. A few minutes later the now-familiar sound of Colton’s rifle reports came through the air, and drew the attention of the Legion. The other pilot seemed to laugh, but stopped when a Militia Tone rounded the corner and began to shoot him from behind.

"Nini, catch and engage!" Colton shouted, leaping from the roof to be caught mid-air and shoved into the cockpit as the shield dissipated. "Find cover!"

Ryan moved with the rest of the squad as they took off, heading for cover a few hundred yards away. He was glad to see another Militia titan nearby and hoped there were still a few more left. This mission was bad for pilot attrition.

Nini and the Tone quickly addressed the Legion before they continued to try and get the riflemen out to the rendezvous. They mowed down the IMC grunts like grass, clearing a path for the squad of riflemen behind them. Ryan nodded to himself, then gestured to the rest of the squad.

"Come on, let's get to the extraction point while we have an escort! Move it!"

"Rifleman, we need to get Kione." Colton’s voice came through the comm, "Has her signal stopped beeping?"

Ryan glanced over at the medic, who shook his head. "No, sir,” he replied. He stopped and looked back at the Northstar. He wasn't sure what he could do, but he wanted to help somehow.

"Can you and the medic wait, then come with me once I clear a path?"

Ryan relayed the question to the medic, who nodded.

"Yes, sir, we can."

"Good. Once you're clear, move east into the next building. I'll try to keep them off your back."

Ryan nodded, hunkered down, waited until it was safe, then darted for the ruined building, followed by the medic. Nini and Colton shadowed the pair from outside the rubble, and moved parallel to them. They engaged another titan from a distance, but Nini's shots were not as accurate as Colton's.

“What should we do, sir?“ asked Ryan when he noticed the fight.

"Keep moving towards the beacon. If I start getting overrun, go back the the rendezvous!" Colton knocked the enemy titan down and killed the pilot, then charged towards the beacon, trailing the medic and rifleman outside the buildings, vents hissing steam.

Ryan muttered off comm, "Hope that doesn't happen, sir." He and the medic took off at a run, moving swiftly from building to building to head to where Kione's beacon transmitted from.

* * *

The sun had almost set by the time they neared the location of the beacon. As they got closer, they could hear gunfire in the distance; first several shots together, then fewer, and then finally a single gunshot followed by silence. On the medic’s tracker, Kione’s heartbeat became eerily even, as if she wasn't hurt anymore. Worried, Colton stepped Nini forward until she illuminated a mess of twisted metal scraps. Ryan tried to make sense of what he saw under the lights, then looked at the medic in confusion.

"Is that... wreckage?"

The medic nodded slowly and bent down to pick up a piece, looking at it, "From a titan?"

Colton disembarked from his titan, and had her walk slowly forward. After a couple of steps, Nini’s lights illuminated the blood. A lot of it. It looked like a slaughterhouse. Ryan had seen a lot of death, a lot of killing, had seen plenty of body parts and shattered heads and everything else that being a gun-toting soldier in a war brought with it, but he'd never, ever, seen anything like this.

"Oh my _god_...." Ryan murmured.

Nini paused as Colton noticed a body and moved towards it to check it out. "He has half a head," he called out. The medic started to move forward, then noticed another pile of scrap up ahead.

"I found Jenny! Her SERE kit... holy fuck.." Nini turned to shine her lights down and exposed the medic holding two pieces of a SERE kit, cut in half right next to the empty optical housing.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" Ryan walked forward and tried not to think too much about what his boots and pants were going to look like when he got through with this.

"She got stabbed by a Ronin, twice,” Colton said flatly, climbing up the destroyed chassis to find it cut in half at the bottom right of the cockpit, and cringed at the blood when he looked inside.

The medic examined the SERE kit, then said, “Her weapons are gone, Kione might have taken..." The medic trailed off as he realized a dark, thick blood trail lead from the emergency hatch to further into the darkness. Ryan frowned at the blood and glanced at the medic.

"Is that ... what I think it is?"

The medic set down the SERE kit, and pulled out a flashlight to follow the trail. He made it a few feet into the dark before there was a sickening crunch, and the medic swore thickly. Nini turned her lights on the medic and exposed him standing amongst eight more bodies, all shot through the head or the throat. The medic’s face was twisted up, and his foot was in a bit of someone's skull. Ryan swallowed. Somehow the way the titan's lights brought everything into sharp relief made it all worse.

"K-keep going... she's g-gotta be around here somewhere,” Ryan stammered.

"What the fuck happened?" Colton said, looking around at the bodies. The smell of blood was thick in the air, so strong that he could smell it through the helmet. The medic continued forward, lifting his flashlight to show a ruined building with an open doorway that had multiple bullet holes around the frame. He lifted his foot to step closer-

**_Bang_ ** _!_

The medic staggered back before blood started to flow from his throat, and he grabbed at his throat before he collapsed to the ground with the rests of the bodies.

Ryan jumped back, reflexively bringing his weapon up, "SHIT! What the fuck?!"

Colton darted forward and slammed into the wall beside the doorframe as a shot narrowly whizzed past him. _Smart pistol,_ he thought as he looked to Ryan, and motioned _Stay down._

" ** _Go_**..." A voice rasped from inside.

Ryan locked eyes with Colton for a moment before he dropped down and knelt in the blood and grime. He held his weapon at the ready, but trusted the pilot. Colton pulled his helmet off, gently holding it in front of the open door. A gunshot went off, and the helmet flew out of his hand to land a short distance away, next to Ryan. The helmet had deflected the bullet, rather than being pierced by it. The pilot nodded to the helmet and motioned for Ryan to put it on. Ryan stared at it for a moment, then tugged his own meager helmet off and replaced it with the pilot’s helmet. The fit was snug, but not uncomfortable, and he noticed a faint scent, not of sweat but something else. As strange as it seemed, it smelled great and Ryan felt himself grow calm despite the situation. _Probably his shampoo_ , he thought.

"Nini, light it up."

The Northstar crouched down and turned on all her lights, lighting up a narrow section of the room through the doorway. There were three more bodies, one of them clad in gold armor. The gold body _moved_ and aimed a pistol at the lights, firing every shot the magazine held. She took out all the lights except one before the magazine ran empty.

"Ryan, move up!" Colton shouted to get the rifleman’s attention once he heard the tell-tale click of an empty gun. He dove through the doorway, and immediately there came a loud, tortured scream followed by the sounds of a struggle. Ryan looked in and saw Colton trying to fight the empty pistol away from the golden-armored pilot as he tried not to slip in the blood.

"Kione! _Kione_!!!" Colton shouted as he tried to wrest the gun from her hand. He needed help, badly. Ryan bolted forward through the blood, catching himself as he slipped a little, and moved quickly to the pilots' sides. He didn't know what else to do except for bodily try to hold Kione's arms down while Colton let go of the gun and went for her helmet.

Kione screamed louder as Ryan tried to fight her arms down, letting go of the gun to curl protectively around an object she clutched in her other hand. Colton grasped her helmet and yanked it off, then put his hands on her cheeks. Her face was bright red, covered in tears, blood, and snot.

"Pilot, pilot! It's okay, it's us! _Pilot_!" Colton shouted.

It took all of Ryan's strength to try to get her arms down. "Kione! Kione come on! It's okay! It's us!" His voice was probably dampened by the helmet but he had to try anyway.

"Oh ** _fuck_** ," Colton whispered, still holding the woman's face as he looked down and realized where all the blood had come from. Her right thigh ended in a mangled nub with a shitty, makeshift tourniquet just above it, the strap too loose to stop all the blood flow. Kione’s fight started to die down after she heard their voices, her throat raw, unable to keep her eyes open. "We need to get her out of here."

Ryan nodded and winced at her missing leg and tried to figure out what she clutched in her hands. He made out a cylindrical shape, then realized it was a burnt-out optical. Even though Kione was obviously growing weaker, her grasp never loosened. Colton shook his head and took a shaky breath.

“Brace her leg.” The pilot’s voice sounded regretful.

Ryan obeyed and held her thigh tightly as Colton reached down to twist the tourniquet tighter. Kione screamed again, but the blood flow finally slowed, then stopped.

"Think she'll tolerate us under each arm?" Ryan asked nervously.

"No, we'll probably have to drag her out and get her to Nini. You ride with us, we need to get back to the rendezvous ASAP.”

“Get her arms, I'll get her leg...s, we can at least carry her over all this crap."

Kione cried out as the two men picked her up carefully.

"Jesus, she's been shot, too,” Colton blurted in horrified amazement. “It’s her blood all over the goddamn floor."

"How the hell is she even still alive?" Ryan grunted as he tried to lift her without bumping her leg. “The human body only has so much blood in it."

Colton shrugged, and the two carried Kione out of the carnage and the ruined building. He whistled to his titan, who obediently walked over and crouched down, offering her hand.

"Be gentle, Nini. She's hurt."

" _Affirmative._ "

Ryan pulled the pilot’s helmet off and held it out to Colton, feeling strangely reluctant to do so, and frowned slightly.

“After I embark, climb up top. There's a divot and a safety handle for riders. We need to go,” the pilot said, as he took the helmet back from Ryan and put it on.

"Right," replied Ryan.  
  
Colton climbed in and took control of Nini, then waited for Ryan to scurry up the side of the titan, perching on top and hanging on tightly. Once he was settled, Colton quickly moved the titan into a trot and headed towards the rendezvous. Kione held onto the titan's thumb with her free hand, breathing slowly.

"Hold on, Kione." Colton muttered, "We've got you..."

Ryan looked down at Kione, and felt a strange twist of anxiety in his gut as she cried out incoherent words, squirming in pain. _Hang in there_. _You made it this far_...

**_“Jenny…”_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And to give you all a sneak-peak into how we do these things, have a wee bit of an outtake from this chapter:
> 
> _Colton nodded and took off his helmet to let his messy red curls fall out, then pushed them away from his bright blue eyes._
> 
> _"Hmmm? Oh yeah, why?"_
> 
> Kieran : AND IN THIS MOMENT RYAN GOES "OH FUCK I'M GAY OH WAIT I'M ALREADY GAY BUT OH FUCK I'M GAY  
> Queen of Derp : EHEHEHEHEHE
> 
> _Ryan gaped for a split second as his heart made an odd flip-flop, then quickly schooled his expression and said, "Oh uh.. just wanted to say thanks, uh, again... for saving my life..."_

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas.


End file.
